Auguste Edouart was a leading french silhouette artist born in Dunkerque, France in the year 1789. His working career was spent in London, Scotland, and the United States.
He left France in 1814 setting up shop in London, England.
A clip to a short link featuring work by Auguste Edouart on the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow. The clip is just under four minutes long.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/201003A44.html
Price range information: The artist worked mainly with cut paper silhouettes but which range $500 to $8,000. Watercolors range $2,000 to $8,000 and these are mainly lanscapes. The artist was renown for his cut paper artwork that featured both people an animals.
Started making his famous paper cut works in 1825.
From 1829 to 1832 Edouart lived in Edinburgh, Scotland and completed nearly 5,000 of his cut silhouette works. Remember this is a time before the Iphone or that matter even before the polaroid! A cut paper silhouette was a great way to capture the likeness of a person without the expense of an oil painting or watercolor. Many owners would have them done of themselves alongside their pets.
Works in major museums worldwide including the National Gallery of Art in London, England, the National Gallery of Art in Scotland, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
I enjoy looking at works from this time period. Its perhaps the first time a person who wasn’t wealthy had the opportunity to immortalize themselves with art. More silhouette artists coming soon!
Edouart passed away in 1861 at the age of 72 years old.
If you enjoy silhouette art make sure and check out my previous writings about artist Annysa Ng who has a work below. Ng works with acrylics and inks in many works.
Another great artist who is perhaps the most famous working African- American visual artist in the country, Kara Walker. The artist is well known for cut paper works and even produces books alongside her original artwork and lithographs. Below an offering from Kara Walker. This work will come for auction on the 29th of this month at Phillips New York. It is a collection of works dealing with the Emancipation Proclamation. Estimates are $120,000 to $180,000.
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Diattaart Blog 
Artist of the moment…. Shane Cotton….
{ April 23, 2013 @ 7:32 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: frances hodgkins, maori, New Zealand, political commentary, shane cotton, social commentary } · { Leave a Comment }
Shane Cotton was born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand in the year 1964. His background is part Maori, so he sometimes expresses his ideas on colonialism, capitalism, and the modern world.
For his artistic education Cotton attended the IIam School of Fine Arts in 1988.
Upon graduation was part of teaching faculty at Massey University.
Was a winner of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship. One of the best artist in residence opportunities in New Zealand this award is given to an up and coming artist of the region. Hodgkins was a well known and respected New Zealand artist born in 1869. Below is an example Hodgkin’s painting style. Upon winning this prize Cotton’s work was in high demand.
Price range information: The artist has produced screenprints which $1,000 to $1,500. Original acrylics range $1,000 to $35,000. Lithographs cost $1,000 to $2,000.
In this clip from the National Gallery of Australia a work titled three quarters view is explained. As in his past work Cotton makes us aware of the different ideas that exist at this time from colonialism to Christianity and also the Maori culture which is also part of the artist heritage.
Its important when looking at Cotton’s work to SLOW DOWN! Take it all in and recognize that every object in the painting has meaning. It could be a golden finch (bird) or even some plain text, but his paintings have a deep emotional and cultural feel though it may not be felt at first if you don’t know what the symbols mean, such as the finch.
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